Second Term Updates – Niger

One new friend and co-worker here at Sahel wrote in her recent update: “I feel like an alien! We look different from our neighbors, we speak a different language, and our neighbors live in a hut.” How we could relate! In addition, we drive a car while they walk, ride a bike or take a taxi everywhere they go. Some even put on coats when the temperature drops below 80 degrees.. “No, Toto; we’re not in Kansas anymore!”

But we rejoice in that we seem to be adjusting – if only a little. Being settled in our own house has made a huge difference, and we’re so thankful we were able to move in before we began our responsibilities at Sahel Academy. School has been in session for about 3 weeks now, so we’re also settling into a schedule. All in all, life does seem easier. Thanks so much for your prayers that have carried us through this settling in time. Don’t stop praying; I’m sure there are still some surprises out there for us!

We’re also rejoicing because of some new supporters from Michigan and West Virginia who have joined our financial support team, bringing our support level to 97.4%. We know that once again God is working through the prayers of His people and is answering the prayers of our prayer support team.. Thanks to all of you for your part in this.

At Sahel Academy this year, I am teaching 3 Bible classes to Grades 7-12 as well as 1 history class and a geography class. I not only want my students to come to recognize in a new way how God has worked throughout history, but that He is actively working today on their behalf.. Please pray for me as I try to make my Bible classes personally and individually meaningful – not just academic. As I ‘train the next generation’, I want to encourage them to love God’s Word and accept it as the Roadmap for their future.

Lois has her hands full with a network and computer lab that has been without regularly-available technical help for several years. Unlike missionaries who have responsibilities in other areas and struggle to find time to ‘fix’ their computer woes (or those of their team members), Lois is here to support the missionary community – specifically Sahel Academy and the EBM team – by helping with their technology needs. She loves the challenge which is good since it looks as if the challenge will last for a while. She’s very thankful that staff and students alike are patient and appreciate her efforts in trying to create an enjoyable place to learn and/or use these tools God has given us.

One of our ‘delights’ at Sahel Academy is a student who is this year’s student body president. We first knew him as an 8th grader in the Ivory Coast. We’re thrilled to see how he has grown and watch as God uses him in this leadership role. During our first assembly, he challenged his fellow students to step up and become involved in their school and community and not to be ashamed of what they believe. We’re looking forward to what God will do this year in the student body at Sahel – and in Niamey and throughout Niger as this generation becomes active in sharing their faith.

Each day as we travel across town to Sahel Academy, we drive past a very large sign which declares (in French): “Our god Allah; our prophet Mohammed; our book the holy Koran”. We are reminded again that we are aliens – not only in Niger, but here on Earth as well. As children of the true God, we are ‘just a passin’ through’. We’re also reminded of why we are here in Niger, a country where 98% of its people claim to be Muslim. Although our ministry doesn’t involve as many opportunities to present the Word of God to these Nigerians as the parents of the children we teach, we are conscious every time we interact with our neighbors, our workers, or others we meet in the marketplace that WE are ambassadors (if not prophets) of Our God Jehovah. We know we are being watched; that, too, is an ever-present knowledge. Please pray that we will be good representatives for our God, that what they see in us will help create more opportunities to share His truth, that we will recognize those opportunities when they come, and that we will have the right words to share (in French) from God’s Book the Holy Bible.

As we look over the list of things we have asked you to pray for in the last month, we are full of praise at how God has answered those prayers. Specifically:

– we safely arrived in Niamey on June 30th. Because our trip took 4 days instead of 2, we enjoyed spending time with friends in Dakar along the way.

– we found a house and are busily cleaning, painting, installing screens and fans, fixing plumbing, putting in kitchen cupboards, etc. Our goal is to be living in the house before school starts on Aug. 14th.

– we flew to Bamako, Mali, and drove our car back here to Niamey within mishap. That’s almost 1000 miles, 150 of which were through the desert. Sometimes the road disappeared and we were very thankful for our GPS. Other times it was all too clear – like when we got stuck in the sand. We’re thankful for the ‘desert dwellers’ who appeared out of nowhere to help dig us out.  We’re now making our way through a different obstacle course – all the paperwork to make our car legal here in Niger.

Thank you for praying us through these things.

Don Carson, retired missionary who has returned to Mali to oversee the EBM guesthouse for a year, shared this in his recent newsletter: “Many of our present missionaries were MK’s (missionary kids) when we were out here in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Now, they are the career missionaries.” Once again, we were reminded of the importance of this ministry to MK’s. We are indeed Training the Next Generation of career missionaries.

Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry.